Alfonso Lara, 80 of Riverside, sits with a photo of his brother, U.S. Army Private First Class Salvador J. Lara. Alfonso Lara will accept a posthumous Medal of Honor on behalf of his brother in Washington, D.C., in March.

A photo of US Army Private First Class Salvador J. Lara is seen with his Purple Heart and Medal of Valor and a note that he wrote to his father when he sent him the medals in the 1940s.

Alfonso Lara, an 80-year-old resident of Highgrove north of Riverside, is a bit hard of hearing, so his daughter thought maybe he misunderstood – or someone was trying to scam him – when he said he’d received a phone call from President Barack Obama.

But it was no mistake – the White House did call last fall to invite him to accept a posthumous Medal of Honor for his brother, Salvador J. Lara, an Army staff sergeant who fought with valor in World War II.

Salvador Lara and Vietnam veteran Jesus S. Duran, also deceased, will become the second and third Medal of Honor recipients from Riverside, joining Ysmael Villegas, an Army staff sergeant who was killed in combat in the Philippines in 1945.

Duran and Lara are among 24 Army veterans to be awarded the medal after a review of whether veterans of Jewish or Hispanic heritage received lesser honors because of prejudice, a White House news release states. Their families will travel to Washington, D.C., for ceremonies at the White House and the Pentagon on March 18 and 19.

Riverside officials are making plans to formally commend the two men, likely at a City Council meeting and a reception at the Grier Pavilion at City Hall, Riverside Mayor William “Rusty” Bailey said.

Vivian Hernandez Lara said the family is thrilled about the honor, especially her dad.

“I can’t get over it. Sometimes I get kind of nervous” about the upcoming ceremonies, Alfonso Lara said.

Salvador Lara, who was born around 1920, grew up in Riverside’s Casa Blanca neighborhood along with and his two brothers and two sisters, Hernandez Lara said.

Alfonso Lara remembers Salvador as an easygoing guy who worked in citrus packing houses, but he didn’t know his brother well because he was still a child when Salvador, then about 20, joined the Army and left home. His other brother, Juan, also served in the Army in World War II but returned home after an injury. Alfonso Lara later served in the Army during the Korean War, his daughter said.

Salvador Lara, whose family nickname was Chavo, was in the 602nd Ordnance Armament Maintenance Battalion. An Army staff sergeant, Lara was a private first class on May 27, 1944, in Aprilia, Italy, when “he aggressively led his rifle squad in neutralizing multiple enemy strong points and inflicting large numbers of casualties on the enemy,” a Pentagon news release states.

“The next morning, as his company returned the attack, Lara sustained a severe leg wound, but did not stop to receive first aid” until he captured his objective, the release stated. He was heavily decorated, receiving the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Distinguished Service Cross, among other medals, according to the Army website.

The American Battle Monuments Commission website and online military records state that Lara died a non-battle death on Sept. 1, 1945, and is buried in the Lorraine American Cemetery in St. Avold, France. He never married or had children, and his brother and niece said they don’t know much about his service or how he died because it was so long ago.

Alfonso Lara said he’s excited to receive his brother’s medal and found it “quite an honor” to get a call from the president.

By coincidence, three days before the medals are awarded to Lara and Duran, supporters of Ysmael Villegas will observe what would have been his 90th birthday with a ceremony at Riverside National Cemetery, where Villegas is buried.

Alicia Robinson has been at The Press-Enterprise since 2007 and has covered Riverside and local government for most of that time, but she has also written about Norco, Corona, homeless issues, Alzheimer's disease, streetcars, butterflies, horses and chickens. She grew up in the Midwest but earned Southern California native status during many hours spent in traffic.Two big questions Alicia tries to answer with stories about government are: how is it supposed to work, and how is it working?

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